A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was holding Monday, with the two sides in the early stages of a six-week pause in fighting that could lead to an end to the war that began in October 2023.
So far three of the 99 hostages held by Hamas militants in Gaza have been released, with 30 others set to be freed in the first stage of the agreement.
Israel also has set free 90 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, all of them women and teenagers, according to Hamas, with hundreds more to follow.
The United Nations has surged badly needed food aid to Gaza and says it plans to bring in 150 trucks of food every day to help Palestinian civilians who have seen their lives upended by the fighting.
More than 1.8 million people are in need of emergency shelter in Gaza, according to the U.N., which also estimated in a report last year that it could take until 2040 to rebuild the territory’s destroyed housing.
The ceasefire began around midday Sunday, and hours later a Red Cross convoy brought hostages Romi Gonen, Emily Damari and Doron Steinbrecher safely back to Israel.
Early Monday, Israel freed the 90 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, with large buses taking them from Israel’s Ofer prison just outside the West Bank city of Ramallah. Palestinians crowded the buses, chanting and cheering, as celebratory fireworks burst overhead.
The ceasefire came after months of negotiations led by the United States, Egypt and Qatar. The talks intensified during the past few weeks, with teams from both the outgoing administration of U.S. President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump pushing for a deal before Trump’s Monday inauguration.
The Palestinian death toll from Israel’s counteroffensive after the October 2023 attack has reached more than 46,900, with most of them women and children, although the Israeli military contends, without providing evidence, that it has killed 17,000 militants.
In addition to the people being released and aid going into Gaza, the agreement also calls for Israeli troops to pull back into a buffer zone inside of Gaza and for many displaced Palestinians to be able to return home.
Top Israeli officials support the ceasefire, but not all of them.
Israel’s hard-line national security minister said his Jewish Power faction was quitting the government in protest over the ceasefire agreement. Itamar Ben-Gvir’s departure weakens Netanyahu’s coalition but will not affect the truce.
Negotiations on the far more difficult second phase of this ceasefire should begin in just over two weeks. Major questions remain, including whether the war will resume after the first phase and how the rest of the hostages in Gaza will be freed.
VOA U.N. correspondent Margaret Besheer contributed to this report. Some information in this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
